April 17, 2016 Jacqueline Hines

Be still and know that I am God, Psalm 46 reminds us. No matter what is shaken in us or around us, the psalmist speaks for God saying, “Be still.” (Slide # 1 Be still – boat) If there is one thing that is easy to do when our world is being torn apart and turned upside down, it is to be still. To be still means to relax, to be quiet, to let drop, to sink, to idle, to fail or to faint.

If we ever manage to be still in a time of testing, it is because of divine intervention. (slide # 2 white clouds, sun rays)     (slide #3 God’s got this) Many years ago, I was leaning against a wall waiting for a bus near the elevated train in Philadelphia. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a person sliding along the wall coming directly toward me. Normally, it is disturbing when a stranger is moving too close. Surprisingly, I had no fear. It turned out to be a friend who was traveling the same route and trying to surprise me. It was not a stranger preparing to attack. All was well.

Apostle Paul had several real shake-ups in his life. He was ready to go to jail for preaching the gospel. First century jails did not hold to the standards for human rights and sanitation that we have come to know.  Ancient prisons were probably more like those shown on that National Geographic program (slide #4 Locked Up Abroad.)The conditions are horrible.

The only way we can be still and know that God is God when conditions are terrible is to let God work in our lives. (slide # 5 Let God lead) We have had to be still when we are getting a sliver removed so as to avoid infection, when we go hunting lest we scare off the game, when we get a cat scan to keep the image from being distorted, or when we want to avoid being seen by an intruder. We know how to be still, but it is not easy. But, it is a door to many blessings.

During surgery, the only way we can remain still is when we are anesthetized. (slide #6 woman under anesthesia…) You may remember an occasion when you were spiritually anesthetized, you may have been given a situation that rendered you unable to move a muscle or bat an eyelid in protest, even if you wanted to. There are those occasions when we realize that we are in deep, and there is nothing we can do about it. There are also those times we are smack dab in the middle of God’s great oasis of love. (slide #7 pool of water) We can’t escape knowing that we are loved, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

The scriptures raise the question, “Can a leopard change his spots?” (slide # 8 leopard) the answer is “no”. And neither can we be still and know that God is God without God working in our lives.

Once I prepared a prayer for worship in Maryland. I had been praying for a man who was a heavy smoker. I prayed, “Lord, deliver us from smoking.” (slide #9 lit cigarette) Quietly, I felt as if God’s hand was on the nape of my neck, gently pulling me aside, in the middle of my prayer, saying, “Don’t do that!” (slide # 10 Don’t do that sign) Later, as I meditated and prayed and argued with God about my style of praying, I began to understand that God did not need my help in changing people. And, if God ever wanted my assistance, God would ask or somehow let me know what to do and what to say.

Have we not understood, yet, that removing an embedded bullet (slide # 11 x-ray) can bring more harm than good, and some wounds need careful protecting before healing can happen? (slide # 12 knew wound)

When we see a hopeless situation, it may be hard to be still. We want to see Jesus raise lives from their deadness like he rose Lazarus from the dead. But, recently I have paid attention to those unnamed witnesses on the sidelines who saw Jesus coming onto the scene two days late. They saw him weeping over the death of Lazarus; they understood that he loved Lazarus, so they asked themselves the question for which we all have sought an answer, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind, kept Lazarus from dying in the first place?” (slide # 13 Raising Lazarus)

Our question may be more like, “Why did you allow this to happen, God? (slide # 14 Why God?)  Why did you not stop it before it got this bad.” When I listen I hear God putting the question back on us in the same way that our children put the question back on us? “Can I trust you to do the right thing even when you are suffering because others are not doing the right thing? (slide # 15 Can I trust you with my heart? ) Can I trust you to be still and know that God is God? Can I trust you to love each other under pressure because that assures me that you will love me, too?  That makes your love credible.” (slide # 16 child looking up)

Without a doubt, these are the questions that Isaac will be asking us as his spiritual nurturers. These are the questions each new member and oldest members alike have in the back of our minds as we journey together in faith. Our answers are, of course, “Yes, we can be trusted. We will never be perfect, but we can be trusted to love one another under pressure and we will be still enough to let God work in our lives, and from time to time we will find ourselves sitting still in an inescapable oasis of love, (slide #17 God is sovereign) knowing that God IS God. Amen. (slide # 18 God Is….)